By Tris Wykes Macalester College home football games feature free admission, but those in attendance for Saturday’s Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener with Carleton would have gotten their more than their money’s worth even if they’d forked over a sawbuck or two. The Knights claimed the schools’ Book of Knowledge trophy for a sixth consecutive…

By Tris Wykes The Macalester College football program prides itself on unearthing diamonds in the rough, overlooked prospects who develop into impact players after a few years of instruction and immersion.  Sometimes however, those gems need only slight polishing before shining bright. Sophomore defender Asher Niemi, who shifts between end and linebacker, started every game…

By Tris Wykes NEW ULM, Minn. – Saturday’s football kickoff between Macalester College and host Martin Luther was moved up to 10 a.m. because of fears there would be excessive heat and humidity by early afternoon. The nonconference clash started under overcast skies, with temperatures in the low 70s and lingering fog around the sunken…

By Tris Wykes Last season’s Macalester College football team finished ninth in the 10-team Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in total offense at 16.6 points per game. That was roughly a third of what league leaders Bethel and St. John’s produced and less than half of what third-place Carleton cranked out.  A contributing factor to the…

By Tris Wykes ESPN’s Bill Connolly has ranked all 771 NCAA football teams in Divisions I, II and III. Ohio State is first and it’s theorized the Buckeyes would be a 148-point favorite against No. 765 Oberlin.  Macalester is No. 687, one slot ahead of MIAC neighbor St. Scholastica and six ahead of Martin Luther,…

By Tris Wykes This is both an exciting and disappointing week for football players across the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. There’s less than a week until the 2026 season begins, but not all those who hoped to earn starting jobs did so. In offices and meeting rooms, young men reacted with elation alongside peers who…

By Tris Wykes Space is at a premium in the Macalester College quarterback room, with six signal callers at a position built for one.  Junior Jack Scully leads the group, having started every game last season, when the Scots were 3-7 overall and 2-7 in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. He completed 52 percent of…

By Tris Wykes Phil Nicolaides is 6-24 during four seasons as head football coach at Macalester College, so what gives him optimism heading into his fifth campaign? “We’re playing at a higher level and that’s evident with experience at the quarterback position,” said Nicolaides, referencing junior Jack Scully, who started every game as the Scots…

By Tris Wykes Like a carnival barker in sneakers, Macalester College football coach Phil Nicolaides strides about John Leaney Field, battery-powered megaphone in hand and efficiency in mind.  “We’re two minutes behind!” Nicolaides calls out. “Plus two on this period, ending at 70 minutes.” That’s a reference to the stadium scoreboard, which tracks elapsed time…

By Tris Wykes Hello, and welcome to the Macalester Football Report, a vanity project intended to get me out of the house and back to covering a football team on a near-daily basis, an activity I dearly missed last fall.  It was the first time in 32 years I hadn’t done so and I didn’t…